Culling badgers will be better for the animals in the long run, according to
David Cameron who warned that it could cost taxpayers £1 billion if the
problem of tuberculosis in cattle is not tackled.

The Prime Minister said that farmers, cattle and badgers all faced “appalling consequences” if bovine tuberculosis was not brought under control.

He insisted a cull was an essential part of the measures required and that Government was determined to press ahead with two trials in Gloucestershire and Somerset despite strong opposition from animal rights groups.

A decision on whether to grant a third license for a cull in Dorset is expected to be announced by Natural England within the next two weeks, which will act as a reserve area should one of the other culls not go ahead.

Mr Cameron’s comments come as anti-cull campaigners claim large numbers of farmers have dropped out of the planned cull in Gloucestershire, putting the scheme under threat.

For a cull to be effective, it must reduce badger populations by at least 70 per cent in the cull area under terms of the license granted by Natural England.

Farmers and the Government have both dismissed the claims, however, as “categorically wrong”.

Mr Cameron said: "They are going to go ahead and it's important that they go ahead.

"I think the countryside needs from the Government not just cash and commitment but it needs courage.

"This does require political courage, but we have that political courage because quite simply it's the right thing to do.

"If we don't do anything we're going to be spending over the next 10 years another billion pounds on dealing with the consequences of bovine TB, and let's be clear there are appalling consequences not just for the cattle and the farmers, there are also appalling consequences for the badgers.

“I want to see healthy badgers and healthy cattle.”

Mr Cameron made his comments to BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today programme while meeting with farmers at the West Devon Show.

Writing in the a local paper, the Western Morning News, ahead of his visit, he attempted to emphasis the Government’s support for farmers.

He said: “Put simply, farmers are the backbone of Britain. More than 50% of the food we eat in this country is grown in this country.

“What’s more, half a million people are employed in agriculture. For Britain to succeed in the years ahead, we need our farms to be strong and successful.”

Last month the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published the government’s a 25 year strategy to make Britain free of bovine TB.

The strategy included combining culls with cattle vaccination programmes and development of vaccines for badgers.

However, experts have warned that oral vaccinations for badgers, which are seen as being the most practical approach, are at least six years away.

An injectable badger vaccine is currently licensed but is expensive to deploy.

The pilot culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset are licensed to go ahead from June until the end of the year and are expected to take six weeks.

Opponents of the cull have promised to take action to prevent the two companies who are carrying out the cull from killing badgers.

Some farmers have also received threats should they let a cull take place on their land.

Earlier this week campaigners claimed the cull in Gloucestershire could be cancelled due to farmers pulling out.

However, Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, yesterday denied this was the case.

He said: “Categorically that is wrong. We’ve made it quite clear that we are gong ahead in Gloucestershire and in Somerset.

“You talk to farmers and they are absolutely desperate. We want to see this extended.

“We have also said in our strategy that we are pressing ahead with a cattle vaccine, we are looking at a badger vaccine and better identification of disease. We are looking at other ways of handling wildlife.

“We are absolutely clear on this. It is not an option to continue as we are, muddling along heading towards a bill of £1 billion with catastrophic impact on our cattle industry and our wildlife.”

Adam Quinney, vice president of the National Farmers Union, welcomed Mr Cameron’s comments but said there needed a firm long term plan to eradicate TB.

He said: “We have had a year to year plan for the last 30 years and that has been disastrous.

“What we need from the government, however, is a long term eradication programme that doesn’t flop and change so the industry can feel that it is going to work.”

He added that a cull could ultimately benefit badgers by preventing them from spreading TB among themselves.

He said: “If you reduce the badger population density, then they don’t interact with other badger groups as much and TB does not spread through the population.”

Jack Reedy, from the Badger Trust, said culling risked spreading the disease further by causing badgers to move in and out of infected areas.

He said: "For the Prime Minister to make such an outlandish and ill-informed remark is disappointing.

"If you truly want to improve the health of badgers, then vaccination and better biosecurity on farms are the best approach."

Paul Wilkinson, from The Wildlife Trusts, which also opposes the culls, said: “The Government must find the courage to face the evidence that culling could make matters worse and instead back alternative solutions, such as vaccination and biosecurity, to tackle the disease.”